IRVINE, Calif. – Monday, Oct. 27, 2008 – Colorado reported 4,345 properties with foreclosure filings in September, a 6 percent decrease from the previous month and down 31 percent from the level reported for September 2007, according to the latest RealtyTrac® U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. One in every 482 Colorado households received a foreclosure filing, ranking 10th highest foreclosure rate in the nation.

RealtyTrac publishes the largest and most comprehensive national database of foreclosure and bank-owned properties, with over 1.5 million properties from over 2,200 counties across the country, and is the foreclosure data provider to MSN Real Estate, Yahoo! Real Estate and The Wall Street Journal’s Real Estate Journal.

“Foreclosure activity in Colorado has declined both in September and from this time last year,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “A number of factors are contributing to the decrease we’re seeing in foreclosure filings throughout the state including an unemployment rate that is well below the national average, and home prices which have been appreciating during the past year.”

Coloradoranked 13th in the country in total foreclosures for the month.

Five counties dominate state’s foreclosure activity for September

Five Colorado counties accounted for 72 percent of all foreclosure activity in the state for September. DenverCounty led the way, reporting 886 properties with foreclosure filings for the month. AdamsCounty documented the state’s second highest total, reporting 707 properties with foreclosure filings. Third highest was ArapahoeCounty, reporting 623 properties with foreclosure filings. El PasoCounty came in fourth place, documenting 496 properties with foreclosure filings, followed by JeffersonCounty with 399 properties with foreclosure filings.

AdamsCounty posts top foreclosure rate for September

With one in every 225 households receiving a foreclosure filing for the month — 2.1 times the state average and 2.1 times the national average — AdamsCounty tallied the highest county foreclosure rate in the state in September. LincolnCounty posted the state’s second highest rate, with one in every 245 households receiving a foreclosure filing during the month — twice the state average and 1.9 times the national average. The third highest rate in the state was reported in Weld County, where one in every 302 households received a foreclosure filing in September — 1.6 times the state and national average.

State a minor contributor to nation’s foreclosure total in September

Colorado accounted for 2 percent of the 265,968 properties with foreclosure filings reported nationwide in September. The national total represents a decrease of more than 12 percent from the previous month but is still 21 percent ahead of the total reported for September 2007. The nation’s foreclosure rate decreased to one in every 475 U.S. households receiving a foreclosure filing during the month.

Report methodology

The RealtyTrac Monthly U.S. Foreclosure Market Report provides a count of the total number of properties with at least one foreclosure filing reported during the month — broken out by type of filing at the county, state and national level. RealtyTrac’s report incorporates documents filed in all three phases of foreclosure: Default— Notice of Default (NOD) and Lis Pendens (LIS); Auction— Notice of Trustee Sale and Notice of Foreclosure Sale (NTS and NFS); and Real Estate Owned, or REO properties (that have been foreclosed on and repurchased by a bank). If more than one foreclosure document is filed against a property during the month — which is extremely rare — only the most recent filing is counted in the report. The report also checks if the same type of document was filed against a property in a previous month. If so, and if that previous filing occurred within the estimated foreclosure timeframe for the state the property is in, the report does not count the property in the current month.

For current news and information regarding foreclosure-related issues and trends, check out our blog at www.ForeclosurePulse.com.

Ranked as the third largest real estate site by MediaMetrix, and No. 53 on Inc. magazine’s 2006 Inc. 500 list of the nation’s fastest growing private companies, RealtyTrac Inc. (www.realtytrac.com), is the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, providing all the resources that home seekers, investors and real estate agents need to locate, evaluate and buy properties below market value.

Founded in 1996, RealtyTrac publishes the largest and most comprehensive national database of pre-foreclosure, foreclosure, For Sale By Owner, resale and new homes, with more than 1.3 million properties across the country, property reports, productivity tools and extensive professional resources. RealtyTrac hosts nearly 3 million unique visitors monthly and has been chosen to supply foreclosure data to MSN Real Estate, Yahoo! Real Estate and the Wall Street Journal’s Real Estate Journal. For more information, visit (www.realtytrac.com).

About RealtyTrac

RealtyTrac® is the leading provider of comprehensive housing data and analytics for the real estate and financial services industries, Federal, state and local governments, academic institutions, and the media. Data is aggregated from parcel-level records of more than 125 million U.S. residential and commercial properties and delivered through customizable products including bulk file licensing, APIs and custom reports.